After four years of living alone after marrying far away, he went back to his parents' home and

After hesitating for a moment, Lan Yujuan made up her mind.

She opened her settings, changed her Moments from "Only visible for three days" to "Visible to all," and then accepted the friend request.

After adding her as a friend, Lan Yujuan opened the other person's Moments and found that it was indeed the other woman: Li Jiaojiao.

She didn't even need to scroll back; almost all of the content the other person had posted in the last few days was related to her husband.

Li Jiaojiao's long post on her WeChat Moments, accompanied by a nine-grid photo collage, showed the two of them wearing matching outfits and couple rings, behaving intimately, and holding hands tightly... Happiness almost overflowed from the screen.

Lan Yujuan scrolled down the list one by one, thinking she was numb, but her heart was still aching terribly.

She felt as if her heart was being slowly tortured with an invisible knife.

Taking advantage of the last shred of reason remaining in her mind, Lan Yujuan saved or screenshotted everything she saw.

Sure enough, in less than half an hour, Li Jiaojiao blocked her on WeChat Moments.

The two remained silent throughout.

There was no mutual deletion, and neither of them sent a single word, not even an emoji.

It was obvious that both of them knew the other's identity perfectly well.

The fourth day of the lunar new year, early morning.

After getting up, Lan Yujuan stood at the edge of the yard and took a picture with her new phone.

The photo is very clear, showing the pond in front of the house, the country path, the winding river, and the distant mountains layered upon each other.

She used this photo to post a message on her WeChat Moments that was only visible to Li Jiaojiao: What's on the other side of the mountain?

Below this post on her WeChat Moments, she specifically added a location tag, pinpointing it to the village store at the entrance of Xiahe Village.

Just as she finished posting on her WeChat Moments and was gazing into the distance in a daze, Liu Xiaoman, with her short legs, came running and jumping towards her.

The little one hugged her tightly, then tilted his head up and asked, "Mommy, what are you doing?"

Lan Yujuan snapped out of her thoughts, stroked her daughter's head, and smiled gently: "Mommy is fishing."

The little guy looked at the pond, then at Lan Yujuan's empty hands, and his little head was a little confused.

The little guy stops thinking about things he can't figure out.

The little one took his mother's hand and turned to walk into the house.

"Eat breakfast!"

It's rare for my sister-in-law to come home, so Tian Xiuhua made a very lavish breakfast!

I went to the convenience store early in the morning to buy rice noodles, stir-fried shredded pork as a topping, and not only did I bring out chopped chili peppers, but I also fried a large plate of poached eggs.

After entering the house, Lan Yujuan first put her phone back in the room to charge, then went back to the living room, picked up the rice noodles on the table and started eating.

The sister-in-law disliked her and wanted to make fun of her, but she was glared at by her mother-in-law and had to swallow her anger.

"Don't just eat by yourself!" Tian Xiuhua said indifferently.

"Go to your second brother's room again and wake him up for breakfast. He can go back to sleep after he's eaten!"

After hearing this, Liu Zhifang didn't get up at all, but shook her head and said, "Second Brother isn't in the room."

Tian Xiuhua was stunned. "Not in the room? Where else could he have gone?"

Liu Zhifang said nonchalantly, "Where else could I have gone? I was out all night last night, didn't come home at all!"

"If you miss him, give him a call!"

"I reckon he's probably hanging out with his bunch of shady friends, hanging around in some nearby village!"

Upon hearing this, Tian Xiuhua felt uneasy and got up to get the phone.

I called three times before she finally answered. I gave her a few perfunctory replies and then hung up again.

Tian Xiuhua said worriedly, "Your second brother hasn't been home all night. Could he have gotten into trouble outside?"

Hearing that her brother-in-law hadn't come home last night, Lan Yujuan reminded him again:

"Every year during the first month of the lunar calendar, there are gambling schemes in the village that involve collusion to cheat people, so it's best to be careful."

After hearing this, her sister-in-law rolled her eyes at her. "Come on, give me a break!"

"Even if they're conspiring to cheat people, they're only cheating the big bosses back in the village, the ones with money in their pockets!"

"If it were my older brother not coming home at night, it would be understandable to be worried."

"My second brother is dirt clean, why would anyone try to scam him? It's a waste of time!"

"In my opinion, you're just being nosy and meddling for no reason!"

Hearing this, Tian Xiuhua echoed her daughter, "Zhifang is right, you don't need to worry about this!"

"I had the foresight to hide all the money in Zhigang's pocket for him."

"He has no money, what will he use to play?"

"I reckon he went to a friend's house for drinks and chats and overslept this morning!"

Lan Yujuan finished eating, put down her chopsticks, wiped her mouth with a tissue, and said calmly:

"If this had happened a few years ago, people definitely wouldn't have been interested in him, but things are different now."

"Nowadays, the Liu family doesn't have many expenses throughout the year, and all three siblings are working."

"In addition, everyone in the village knows that Liu Zhigang is getting married and his family is planning to buy a house."

"Anyone with a brain can easily guess our family's situation with a little thought."

"You must have money for the bride price, gold jewelry, and wedding expenses, right? And you must have money for buying a house, right?"

"But these sums add up to a considerable amount! Once they're spent, no one will care anymore."

"But now..."

After Lan Yujuan finished speaking, the Liu family fell silent.

We are all adults, and we all understand that what Lan Yujuan said makes sense.

Tian Xiuhua hesitated, her eyes darting left and right, and whispered, "Really?"

"Your brother didn't have any money on him when he left. Who would want to fight him?"

Lan Yujuan bluntly stated, "What era are we living in? Once you're at the gambling table, who cares about cash?"

"As long as you can pay it back, someone will dare to lend it to you."